


Project Persona

by KROWRIM



Category: Persona 5
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-09
Updated: 2018-07-09
Packaged: 2019-06-06 15:10:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15197459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KROWRIM/pseuds/KROWRIM
Summary: In the year 30XX the Republic rules Japan. War brews between them and the Federation who wish for change. The Federation has a secret weapon on their side, The Phantoms. A small group of teens who managed to escape the horrors of the Republic.This is their story.





	1. Phantoms

**Author's Note:**

> Now I've tried something like this before but deleted it since i wanted it to be a one shot and screw myself over by leaving too many loose ends. Now this will be a series and not a one shot so hopefully this time it'll work out. Hopefully.

It was night yet it wasn't dark. The fire around the young man kept him hot during the cold season of winter. The rubble of the buildings that were destroyed during the battle laid around him. The smell of gun powder and smoke filled his lungs as he tried to stand. His uniform was torn in various places revealing his bloody skin underneath. The mask he wore was broken in half and barely hung to his face.

His weapon was destoried so he had no way of fighting back and his body was working against him. He couldn't move yet he still tried. The bullet wounds stung with every attempt. Any normal person would be dead by now. He wasn't normal.

He watched as a large piece of fabric fell from the sky. On it was a logo of the very thing they had fought for. The very thing they had sacrificed everything for. The boy turned to his stomach and struggled to push himself up. He heard footsteps and suddenly he was forced back down. He looked up as far as he could only to see black cargo pants and combat boots.

"Weak. You're just plain pathetic. Even after everything you still choose to fight." The figure said.

The voice was slightly muted from the ringing in the man's ears. He felt the pressure on his back push down more causing him to groan in pain.

"Don't you get it? You lost. Everyone died because of you! You lead them to their deaths and now you'll join them."

The boy heard the sound of the gun clicking. He looked over to see a hand hanging from the rubble. A woman's hand. Her fingernails were painted a beautiful red. Then, the gun went off.

\-----  
"Joker!"

The young man woke up with a start. He looked around and took in his surroundings. He was on top of a higher building in the middle of the city. It was night time and the air was warm. The colorful city surrounded them with the various billboards and neon signs. He looked up to see the person who woke him. It was a teen his age with dark blue hair. His face was covered with a white and red fox mask which went with his blue and white suit. On his back was a red cover for his sword and his rifle.

This is Fox. He and Joker were similar in the sense of what they could do. Joker would often admire just how far he could shoot his rifle. Joker looked around and spotted the other two people who occupied the roof with them. One was a blonde male who wore a metal skull mask and a black attire that resembled a pirate of sorts. The other was the only female who was also blonde. She wore a red cat mask and a tight latex suit with a leather whip on her hip.

The male had a shotgun on his back and a was holding a bat on his shoulder. These two were Skull and Panther. More like Joker.

"You fell asleep. The target is on the move." Fox explained.

Joker nodded and got on his feet. He walked over to the edge of the roof and joined Panther was was looking out across the street at the building they've been watching for the past few hours.

"He's talking with one of his guys." She said.

Joker looked out at the target and scanned the area. He mentally mapped out every entry point and escape route. He turned back and reached the duffle bag carefully hidden away near a vent. He opened it and searched for something that could help him.

The target was a arms man who dealed weapons to the enemy. Profiting off of war. Their job was to take him down and put a end to his business.

Joker pulled out a large gun like device and handed it to Fox.

"Where do I aim?" Fox asked.

Joker pointed to a vent that was a perfect point to gain access. Fox aimed for it but everyone stopped in their tracks when they heard a loud sound rip across the skies. In the distance was a chopper coming their way.

"The bastard's escaping! We have to hurry." Skull announced.

Joker nodded to Fox who took position and readyed the hook. He fired it and it landed right on target. Joker got to work with setting himself up and looked back to his team. They all gave the clear signal and Joker smirked. He gave a thumbs up and began his way down.

Once everyone got set up on the next roof they began to prepare for their visitor. Joker pulled out his pistol and knife before he made his way over to a vent where he was joined by Panther.

"I have sights on the target." Fox whispered into the com.

Joker held his hand up to signal them to hold. He listened to hear footsteps grow louder as if they were walking towards them. Joker's hand turned into a fist and everyone jumped out of their hiding places. They all aimed their guns at the men and the target.

The guards immedently pulled out thier own weapons and opened fire. Joker fired off a round and hit a man in the shoulder before he jumped back behind cover. Panther opened fire as well and managed to drop two more before a bullet found itself in Joker's chest.

The hit caused him to stagger before he hopped up and thrusted his blade into a guard's leg causing him to fall to his knee which gave Joker the chance to dig the blade into his throat. The man dropped and Joker looked to see Skull blast another guard back with his own gun. Fox pulled out his blade and quickly slashed through two more men.

He tossed the blade up high enough to quickly pull up his rifle and fire off two rounds. He let the rifle swing back to it's original place before catching the sword once again and cutting down one last man. Skull pulled the trigger of his shotgun only to find out that it was out of ammo. He threw it down and pulled out the bat and began to swing at whoever was near by.

Joker watched as a man pulled out a pistol and aimed it at Skull. He was about to call out to him but Panther instead pulled out her whip and lashed it at the man. It wrapped around the gun and she successfully pulled it away before she opened fire herself. Skull turned and nodded at her.

Joker smiled slightly before he noticed that the helicopter was near. He also noticed that the target was getting away. He slid his pistol back into his coat and made a dash to the helipad where he tossed up his knife before catching it. He made a leap from the platform and stabbed into the metal. He then pulled up and kicked at the helicopter's window.

Did he know what he was doing? Hell no. He didn't even know what was going on. Everything was going by in a blur. Then again he should he use to this by now. Things always went this way. A simple mission that ended up with a explosion in some kind of way. In this case it was the helicopter.

Joker landed smoothly and rose to spot the target cowering. He flipped his knife in the air and smiled down at him. He was soon joined by his team and they slowly circled the man.

"So, who gets this one?" Skull asked.

"Well you got it last time so not you." Panther pointed out.

"Well I do believe you had it two times in a row." Fox said.

Everyone looked to their leader who was looking down at the target.

"Fox gets it." He decided.

Fox bowed at him and reached back to pull out his blade. The man began to cry, scream, beg for his life. They all fell upon deaf ears.  
\------  
The cold water hit the young man's skin as he washed his hair. For his age he was quite fit. His abs were defined and his muscles were firm. His body was painted with scars from his various battles and fights.

This was Joker aka Akira. The silent leader but charming student. The ruthless killer but kind soul.

He finished his shower and started to get dressed. He had his pants on when the door swung open and a girl stood there in her normal clothes. This was Panther aka Ann. Akira's back was to her but he turned his head to show that he aknowlege her presence.

"Boss wants to see us at his office." She told him.

Akira nodded and threw on his shirt. The two made their way down the velvet hallway to the office of their boss. The man who took them in when they had no where else to go. They finally reached the large door and entered the office to find Fox and Skull waiting. They were also in their civilian clothes. These were Yuskue and Ryuji respectfully.

"How bad did we mess up this time?" Akira asked.

The large leather chair spun around revealing their leader. The old man with a long nose.

"Your team is a recon and termination squad. You managed to blow up a helicopter and set fire to a 40 story building. How bad do you think?" He asked.

Akira scratched the back of his neck.

"Minor. Give or take." He said with a smile.

He suddenly felt something slap his ass and turned to see who it was. No one was there but when he turned back to the desk he noticed a new figure sitting on the desk. It was Igor's right hand man. Or woman.

"Hello Agent Kurusu." Margaret greeted.

Akira blushed and turned his gaze to the floor.

"God we really did mess up."  
\------  
After a good 40 minutes of yelling and another 10 minutes of reports, the team was able to leave.

"God that sucked. We got the guy and did the job! Why are we getting yelled at for?!" Ryuji asked.

"We may have done the job but we did destroy quite a lot of things." Yusuke pointed out.

"Still! We did it didn't we?!" Ryuji argued.

Yusuke shrugged and walked slightly faster. He knew there was no arguing with the blonde teen. Meanwhile Akira walked behind them all and looked at his phone. It was 11:00 at night. They will get about 7 hours of sleep before they would have to wake up and go to school.

"How's your wound doing?" Ann asked.

Akira looked up to see that she had slowed down to let him catch up. He shrugged and put his phone away.

"Still better than getting stabbed with a tazer." He mumbled.

As they walked out of the base Akira stopped when he noticed a group walking in.

"You guys go ahead. I'll see you at school." He said.

The group didn't hesitante and said their goodbyes. Akira made his way over to the group and one of them noticed him.

"Hey. Look at who it is." The leader announced.

The other two men looked over to see Akira. They waved and stopped so he could reach them.

"Hey. Did you just get back?" He asked.

The white haired leader ran his hand through his hair.

"Yep. Finally getting a break from the front lines." Yu smiled.

Yosuke and Kanji both smiled at the sweet sounding word. This was the Inaba team. They were the soldiers fighting in the front lines of the war rather than sneaking around and taking out high profile targets like the Phantoms.

"Well since you guys are here why don't I buy you all drinks?" Akira offered.

Their faces lit up.  
\-----  
It was about 1:30 when Akira got back to the high end apartment complex. In hindsight he should have called it quits earlier knowing it was a school night but he wanted to catch up with his friends. It wasn't that long ago that he was once with them.

Akira reached the steps of the tall building and entered the ugh the spinning door. He greeted the desk man and headed for the elevators. As he pressed the button for his floor he heard the sounds of footsteps. He looked out quickly to see someone jogging to catch a ride before the doors closed. Akira held his arm out to stop the doors from shutting and gave the girl a smile as she entered.

"What floor?" He asked.

"22."

Akira looked at the buttons and realized that she was going to the same floor as him. He stepped back to make more room and noticed that she was holding a bunch of folders. She also had his school's logo on her vest.

"You go to Shujin?" He asked.

The girl looked at him and nodded.

"Yes. I'm the Student Council President. Makoto Nijima." She introduced.

Akira shook her hand and gave a charming smile.

"Akira Kurusu. I've heard of you."

"Oh? You go to Shujin as well?" She asked.

"Yes. I'm a second year. Just started this last semester so I'm kinda new." He explained.

Makoto nodded and Akira held out his hand.

"Do you need help with any of those?" He offered.

She shook her head but smiled back.

"I'm use to this by now." She then tilted her head. "What are you doing out so late? Shouldn't you be asleep?"

"I could be asking you the same thing." Akira pointed out.

"I always come back this late. The school just never sleeps." She explained.

Akira yawned but quickly covered his mouth. He looked over to see that she hadn't noticed.

"Well I was just out with some friends and lost track of time." He half lied.

They finally reached their floor and Akira allowed her to step out first. He followed and they both started down the hall.

"So you live here? I don't think I ever seen another student here." She questioned.

Akira shrugged.

"Guess I'm special. I'm actually not the only one. My roommate is a student to and so are our neighbors."

Makoto's eyebrow rose.

"There's four students that live here and I didn't even know? Maybe I am a robot." She said with her voice getting lower and lower.

"What was that?"

"Nothi..Ah!"

Suddenly Makoto found herself falling. Akira was quick to react and threw his arm around her and stopped her from hitting the ground. Her papers went flying and spread all on the floor. Akira lifted the girl back to her feet and offered a nervous smile.

"You ok there? Never seen anyone trip over nothing before." He joked.

Makoto held a hand to her head.

"Sorry it's been a long night."

Akira covered his mouth slightly.

"Tell me about it." He mumbled under his breath.

Makoto bent down to gather her things and Akira quickly jumped in to help. He gathered some papers near him but something caught his eye. Project Utopia. Just as he reached out to grab it Makoto's own hand quickly snatched it up. The two both stood up and Akira handed her the papers back.

"Thank you. I didn't mean to be so clumsy." She apologized.

"Don't worry about it. Sleep gets the best of us sometimes."

The two continued to walk before Akira reached his apartment.

"Well this is me." He told her.

Makoto stopped walking and turned to give him her full attention.

"Is it now? I'm only a few doors away. Maybe we could get together and have tea. I would love to get to know a student." She suggested.

Akira smiled and gave a slight nod.

"I would like that. Tea with a cute girl like yourself sounds nice." He smirked.

Makoto great a bit red at the word cute. The moment was interrupted when Akira's door swung open to reveal a tired Ann. She was now dressed in Akira's shirt and a pair of shorts.

"About time you showed up. Ryuji has been bugging me all night. I need my sleep Akira!" She lectured.

Akira looked at her then at Makoto. He looked at her then at Makoto. Her. Makoto. Her. Makoto.

"I swear to God, this isn't what it looks like." He quickly said.

"You didn't tell me your roommate was a girl." Makoto said dumbfounded.

Ann rolled her eyes and dissappeared into the room.

"Just go to bed!" He called out.

Akira looked back at Makoto and bowed.

"I'm sorry. I'll see you around?" He said hopefully.

Makoto snapped out of her daze and quickly spoke up.

"Y-yes! Yes I hope so. Have a good night."

Akira smiled one last time and went to his room. It had been a long night.


	2. The Shujin Investigation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the team lays low at school, a new group is formed on the opposing side.

Cold and dark. This was life for them. The cages that were stacked on top of each other filled with filth and whatever was left of what they called food. The entire facility either had these rooms or ones for testing. Hell wasn't a place deep underground that was on fire. It was a warehouse filled with cages. In those cases were people like him.

He never knew his family. He only knows of the scientist and the guards who watched over them to make sure they didn't escape. In Room P5 on the second row of cages was where he slept, ate, and lived. The long hours he spent outside of the metal prison was in the white rooms where they would push him past his limits. He was just a lab rat that wouldn't die.

He had no real reason to be here. They had many like him. Akira never understood why they felt no sympathy for them. They were just children being pushed until they were either taken away to God knows here or killed. Akira refused to die.

"GET UP!"

Akira was awoken by the loud sound of metal hitting metal. He sat up as much as he could before he felt a electric shock flow through his body. He screamed out and fell back over. The guard opened his cage door and forcefully grabbed his leg. He pulled the young boy out and threw him to the floor. Two more men came and placed restraints on him before stabbing something into his neck. Soon he was in a daze.

They dragged him pass the other cages. Dirty, skinny, sick children watched as his feet dangle behind him as his head hung low. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't focus. Soon enough he was in a white room where a metal desk sat in the middle. There was a man in a white lab coat and a clip board. The men tossed Akira on to the empty chair and placed his restraints so he couldn't move from the table.

"Subject 501. Male. Has yet to activate P Ability." He read aloud.

The young boy felt his head fall forwad but quickly sat up when he heard the clipboard slam against the table. He shook his head to try to snap out of his daze. The man looked at him before writing something down.

"Now tell me something child. Have you experienced anything that can be called power as of late?" He questioned.

Akira shook his head. He didn't even know what that meant. The man sighed and wrote something down. He set the clipboard down and Akira saw his picture on it. The man stood up and walked behind the boy. Suddenly Akira's hair was pulled up and with great force his head slammed against the table.

The scientist repeated this action three more times before he stopped. The boy looked back up, his face now bloody and his nose broken. He looked back at the man who began to write down something else before walking to the door. He gave three knocks and the door opened to reveal two men. They moved in and headed to get Akira.

Then suddenly, time stood still. The room grew dark and there was only Akira. The was a light that caused him to look up and see just what caused the brightness. Standing before him was a man. A monster. A demon.

"This is wrong. This isn't what what the world is meant to be. Your justice is yet to come. You must be the one to bring it!"

Akira began to shake. Not in fear but in anger. Time resumed and he began to scream. He began to pull on the same chains that bound him. The men pulled out their batons and moved in.

"Stop him! He cannot active it in here!" The scientist commanded.

It was too late. Blue flames surrounded him and then everything went blank. When he came to he saw that the white room was now covered in red. The chains were broken and he sat in the corner. Body parts were everywhere and he himself was covered in blood. It wasn't his.

More men walked in and pointed their guns at him. Akira curled up in a ball and slowly began to rock back and forth. All he heard a laughter. Evil, demotic laughter.  
\-----  
"Akira!"

Akira's eyes snapped open and he tried to catch his breath. He sat up and held his head. Another headache. He looked to see Ann sitting on his bed looking at him. That same concerning look she always gave him when he had these nightmares. The routine after was always the same.

"You ok?" She would ask.

Akira would then tell her that it was just a nightmare. She would try to get him to open up but he would tell her that it was nothing.

"Fine." She said.

She got up and left the room for Akira to get ready. He took a shower and thought back on the night before. The mission went well, kind of, and Igor was happy, kind of, and then he talked to the guys about the front lines. Then there was that cute girl. He thought back on her crimson red eyes and wondered just where she was from. He had never seen anyone with red eyes like hers before.

Then there was that paper. Project Utopia. He had no idea what that meant. It seemed important enough for her to hide it. Then again it could've been some kind of school project so he didn't think much about it. Plus he had agreed on a date with her, kind of.

After getting dressed and grabbing something small, he was out the door and heading to the lobby. Sitting on the chairs and couch were his team. Ryuji greeted him with a wave and Yuskue gave a slight nod.

"You guys ready?" Ann asked.

Everyone nodded and they began their journey to school. It was a higherend school called Shujin Academy. All the rich kids went there and boy did the teens stick out. They didn't have money, at least enough to even get considered for the school, but that is to Igor pulling strings they had somehow managed to get in.

"I fucking hate this place." Ryuji mumbled as they approched the building.

Akira nodded in agreement. They didn't like it here at all but they had no choice. They had to go to school and the police were less likely to come here. It was just convenient. At least for the Federation.

"Just lay low and don't draw attention to yourselves. We never even heard of what happened last night." Akira ordered.

With that Ryuji and Yusuke went thier own way while Akira and Ann went to their class. The bell ring and their day began. Akira felt someone looking at him but shrugged it off.  
\-----  
"Isn't that Akira?" Makoto asked herself.

This was the first time she saw him in the hallways. She pushed the memory of last night out of her mind and continued to the student council room. When she entered she found that she was the only one there. Then again it's not like anyone else gave a shit. It was just her. At least she thought.

"Ms. Nijima. Good morning."

She jumped at the voice and turned to see a man sitting in the dark. In her chair.

"Mr. Kobayakawa! What are you doing here?" She asked.

The man chuckled and slid her a small device.

"Councilman Shido has an assignment for you. Looks like you have a new team as well." He explained.

He got off the seat and began to walk to the door. He stopped and leaned over to whisper in her ear.

"Play nice." He warned.

With that he left. Makoto looked down at the device and made sure no one was around before activating it. A bright blue holographic image appeared. On it was four pictures of the agnets set to work. One of them was hers but the other three she didn't recognize. Two girls and one boy.

One girl had autumn curls while the other had long orange hair. The boy was charming that was for sure. He had long shaggy hair and grey eyes.

"Haru Okumura, Futaba Sakura, and Akechi Goro." She read aloud.

She closed their profiles and looked at the assignment. It was a simple retcon mission but when she saw the names of who they were to watch her stomach dropped. There were four student pictures, all of which were in Shujin, and each one had a smile. Under had a warning. Armed and dangerous. It told her about the murders they were responsible for and exactly what they did in the past few years.

She read all the names to herself until she reached the supposed leader. She hesitanted and felt a small sting in her gut.

"Akira Kurusu."

She looked at his record and sighed.

"I was hoping he was normal. Why do I ever get my hopes up?"

She sat in her chair and turned the device off. She rubbed her thumb over it as she began to think. Engraved into the smooth metal was the Holy Grail logo. The Republic's mark.


End file.
